About the Book:
Derry Greene is on the road again, investigating the arrest of one of Tramerica’s tour guides in India. He goes to ameliorate the company’s image when the guide is charged with illegal possession of a statuette of the Hindu goddess, Kali, and the death of his Indian girlfriend. In the process, a secret cabal kidnaps Greene as a token American in a lethal plot to destabilize Pakistan. The sister of the murdered girl comes to the rescue. Time becomes of the essence as they try to survive and warn authorities of the dangerous threat to Pakistan.

Excerpt:The car came to an abrupt halt right behind the two trucks carrying all the men heavily armed with AK-47s and their equipment. Dawn had broken, and I could see that we must be at a clearing on a coast by the Arabian Sea. There didn’t seem to be any village or even a dock. Two boats, no more than 30 feet long, lay tugged onto the small strip of sandy shore to avoid slipping into the sea. They looked like fishing boats with nets on their bows, but I couldn’t be sure. My hands were tied behind my back as I tried to maneuver in the back seat to see more. No one was in sight until one man, standing on the boat closest to the shore, waved at the newcomers.

The scene looked bucolic, but this was misleading. Palm trees swayed a bit inland and the sea air was bracing, but a terrible event was unfolding.

All I could think of was how I could escape. At first I thought I was kidnapped in Mumbai to be held as a hostage for ransom. But then I realized Cranagh and his terrorist crew had other plans for me! At the camp deeper in the forest, where we stayed before the drive here, I had actually been given some martial arts training, target practice at a makeshift shooting range, and instruction in urban and street fighting. Why? Did they really expect me to be a fellow-terrorist?

Never! If that were the case I’d find a way to shoot myself first. There was no way I would fight for them. I had been held captive before, by the Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines and by the IRA in Ireland. But neither group wanted me to fight with them! I couldn’t believe this whole insane campaign was actually going to happen. But Cranagh and his band of terrorist-cum-Kali followers, including me as a token American, were about to embark on a deadly suicide-certain mission.

Nothing in my background had prepared me for what was transpiring. I’d been in tough scrapes before such as in the Philippines and Ireland but nothing like this. There had to be some way to get loose, but they kept such a tight check on me. Perspiration coated my forehead and back. I had never felt so powerless. I could make a break for it here but I wouldn’t get far. I’d have to find another way. But what?

Now Cranagh and his driver, Mouri-a sour-faced Indian-exited the car. With my hands still tied, Mouri pulled me outside the auto. Cranagh had this look of expectation on his bronzed face. His dark eyes were fixed at some inner vision. In Mumbai he was a successful middle-aged businessman running an art and antiques gallery. Here, he was the leader of a group of fanatical terrorists about to commit a terrible crime.

What was going to happen now? Were we really going to attack Pakistan?

Everything that occurred since I was kidnapped in Mumbai fleeted before me. It was sheer coincidence that I accompanied Sanjay Naxit on his going to a meeting of some secret society of Kali devotees. They called themselves “Friends of Kali.” Little friendship had been shown to me. The Hindu goddess had just meant statuettes of her multi-armed figure-a few real but mostly faked figurines-to me until I was sent by Tramerica, my company, to sort out the problems of one of our tour guides who had been stopped by Indian Customs with false provenance papers on a fraudulent statue which had cocaine traces in the statue’s woodwork. He also had a few other difficulties such as being suspected of serving as a drug courier and causing the death of a young Indian woman over a botched romance. Instead of solving these predicaments, I had unintentionally created another deadlier one myself.

About the Author:
Jack Adler is a Los Angeles-based author. The Rage of Kali is the fourth in a series of novels featuring Tramerica’s travel investigator, Derry Greene who ventures to different destinations. The first three novels are City Havoc, The Impresario of Terror, and Irish Spring.

Adler has published several novels including The Apostate, The Montrell Tapes, and Ditzy & Champion, as well as a historical trilogy about ancient Rome and Parthia. Nonfiction books includeSoulmates From The Pages of History, Splendid Seniors: Great Lives/Great Deeds, and a pair of travel books: Make Steady Money As A Travel Writer-Without Traveling andThere’s A Bullet Hole In Your Window.